Personal information

Research Interests

Research interests focus on model-based support for solving complex problems, which incorporates three interlinked areas. First, integration of interdisciplinary knowledge and its representation by mathematical models. Second, creation of knowledge by comprehensive model analysis, including multicriteria methods. Third, tailoring the modeling process to meet the needs of decision-making processes.

Thus the research interests cover a cluster of areas relevant to the adaptation (whenever possible) or development (when needed) of methodology, algorithms, and software for model-based decision-making support. This includes more specific topics in Operations Research (OR) such as: multicriteria problem analysis, large scale optimization, optimization of badly conditioned problems, use of database management systems for complex models, decision analysis and support, user interfaces in decision support systems, effective treatment of uncertainty and risk.

The current focus is on Structured Modeling Technology (SMT), which is being developed to meet the IIASA's growing needs for tailored modeling support for problems characterized by complex relations, huge amounts of data, and the demand for integrated model analysis. SMT aims at supporting interdisciplinary teams working at dispersed locations on model specification, collection and verification of data, definition of various model instances, and applying diversified methods of model analysis. Thus SMT is based on the Web and uses DBMSs for a consistent management of all persistent elements of the whole modeling process.

Education

I graduated in 1970 with an Engineer and a Master of Science degree in the field of automatic control and computer sciences, received from the Faculty of Electronics of the Warsaw University of Technology. I had also studied mathematics at the Warsaw University. In 1970 I joined the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences   (SRI), Warsaw, Poland. I received my Ph.D. in 1976 from the Polish Academy of Sciences for the thesis on the optimization of environmental models.

Before joining IIASA in 1987 I was an assistant professor and a leader of the Environmental Systems Modeling laboratory at SRI, and also a co-ordinator of a group of research and application projects on the development of decision support systems for water resources management in Poland. Moreover, since 1976 I had been actively participating in several joint projects with IIASA. During my affiliation with IIASA I am on leave from the SRI.

Activities at IIASA

I have been leading the Integrated Modeling Environment project since January 2006. I started my affiliation at IIASA in August 1987 by joining the Computer Services Department to work on the development and application of mathematical programming software. Later I was Acting Project Leader of the Methodology of Decision Analysis (MDA) Project from September 1989 until August 1991, and since then I have been a member of this project. In 1997-2005 I was a Senior Research Scholar at the Risk, Modeling and Society Program, where I expanded the activities I had been doing within the MDA Project (which terminated at the end of 1996).

CV and list of selected publication

For more information please read my CV with the list of selected publications available in   PS   and   PDF   formats   (last modified on Jan 22, 2010).

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